He turned his attention back to his computer. He had a spreadsheet that detailed the activities the company offered, separated by season. He’d already started work on the scheduling, but kept going back to the list.

There were lots of fun things for people to do. Everything from the very traditional walking tours to the more adventurous whitewater rafting and parasailing. In between were hikes and campouts that could be adjusted for the skill and fitness level of the group. But it was all so predictable.

He walked into the front office, where Fay was printing out passes for the day’s tours. Charlie trailed after him. Fay looked up from her work.

“What?” she demanded. “You’re thinking something.”

“How do you know that I’m thinking? Is it a woman thing? Or that we’ve worked together for a long time?”

“Both. Now talk.”

“I’m looking at the schedule. We have a lot of things for families and for guys and couples, but nothing for women. Nothing female-based.”

“Like?”

“I don’t know.” He opened the bottom drawer of her desk and pulled out a yellow ball, then tossed it down the hall for Charlie. The little dog raced after it. “Something from the Máa-zib, maybe. This town was founded by a group of powerful women. There’s the festival where the guy gets his heart cut out. What if we did a ladies’ weekend around that? With a bike ride and an afternoon of shopping. Maybe some spa stuff. We could approach the businesses in town to co-op with us.”

Fay nodded slowly. “That could be fun. It wouldn’t have to be around the festival, although that’s great. What about bachelorette weekends?”

He grabbed a pad of paper from her desk and started making notes. “That would work. We could do packages or something. Include meal vouchers.” He looked at her. “What about more couples stuff? A romantic sunset kayak for two with a picnic? Ana Raquel has her food truck all summer. She could put together the food and wine. We already have blankets and kayaks. We’d give a quick lesson for the novices, send them out with a map and GPS locator.”

Fay grinned. “Unless they don’t want to be found.”

“They’ll want to be found eventually. The food will run out.” He chuckled as he wrote.

“I’m impressed,” she added. “Usually when you want to make changes, you’re only interested in going faster or making the ordinary more dangerous. This isn’t like you.”

“I want to mix it up,” he said, when what he was thinking was that this was Shelby’s influence. She’d forced him to do “girl things.” While he’d resisted at first, he had to admit there was value in having a conversation. In learning to listen and offer encouragement without offering advice. He would always prefer doing over sitting, but there was a time and place for both.

“Women either influence or make all family vacation decisions,” he continued. “I need to keep that in mind.”

Fay petted Charlie. “Our little boy is all grown up. I’m just so proud.”

* * *

THE HELP EMERGENCY RESPONSE OPERATIONS, or as it was known in town, the HERO office, was designed to handle a crisis. There weren’t a lot of unnecessary touches. The walls were covered with maps of the surrounding forests, the desks had state-of-the-art computers and the command center looked capable of a space launch.

Shelby had always felt a little intimidated when she visited her brother at work. He rescued people and saved lives—she made cookies. Not that the comparisons were new. After all, he’d been a world-class athlete before heading up the town’s search-and-rescue organization, while she’d, well, baked cookies.